TORONTO, April 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Critical multi-government
investment for new Honda Canada electric vehicle, battery and
battery material facilities will further bolster Canada's auto sector and help secure and grow
jobs across the value chain.
The projected $15 billion
investment to assemble new electric vehicles, build a new battery
cell plant in Alliston, Ontario
alongside additional joint venture battery component and material
facilities in Ontario is expected
to create an estimated 1,000 new, direct jobs.
"This EV transition is an unstoppable reality and staking
Canada's claim and the jobs that
go with it is only possible with the government investment and
industrial strategy that Unifor has long called for," said Unifor
National President Lana Payne. "It
is paramount however that government investment comes with
guarantees of good paying jobs and transition supports for workers,
and that workers' rights to organize are fully respected."
Today's announcement by Honda marks the single, largest
investment in Canada's auto
sector, following a string of other record-breaking announcements
since 2020, when Unifor negotiated the first major EV investment in
history at Ford Motor Company.
Honda EV production is tentatively scheduled for 2028, according
to reports, with no details released today on retooling plans for
Honda's existing vehicle assembly plants, anticipated production
downtime, future product programs or transition supports for
affected workers – all critical issues that pose serious challenges
for workers, and that Unifor has had to address in recent years for
thousands of autoworkers in Ontario.
"As exciting as it is to build the auto sector of the future, we
can't lose sight of the instability this transition brings to
autoworkers. We know this because we are living through it right
now in Ontario. Our members are
living through it," Payne said. "Honda workers and those in the
supply base will have many questions that deserve answers.
Questions about job security, income security during the
transition, and what their job of the future will be. They will
need and deserve assurances."
The Honda investment was made possible through strategic federal
and provincial government supports estimated at $5 billion. It expands Canada's forecasted electric vehicle
production outlook as well as processing capacity for battery
materials and represents Canada's
fourth announced battery cell "gigafactory" following prior
announcements on the construction of the Stellantis and LG Energy
Solutions NextStar battery plant in Windsor, Ontario, the Volkswagen battery
plant in St. Thomas, Ontario,
and the Northvolt battery plant east of Montreal, Quebec.
"Canada is vying with the world
to obtain these long-term facilities and the thousands of jobs that
will support the communities where they are built," said Unifor
Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier.
"What governments are doing to secure the future of this industry
is working, and a welcome change from past governments who oversaw
the auto industry's decline."
Despite recently announced EV production slowdowns and retooling
delays that are affecting auto assembly and parts workers in
Canada and elsewhere, there is an
undeniable growth path for EVs and EV investment that will
transform the industry. In 2022, Unifor outlined a series of 29
specific recommendations to grow the industry and navigate this
transition in support of workers.
Unifor is calling on governments to ensure that all automakers
in receipt of public funds commit to deliver good, high-quality
jobs for Canadian workers. This includes a commitment by automakers
to remain neutral and impartial to employee efforts to form a union
in their workplace. Unifor is also calling on the federal
government to ensure the speedy passage of the promised Clean
Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit announced in the
Budget 2023 Budget as well as its supplementary EV Supply Chain
Investment Tax Credit announced in Budget 2024.
Unifor set of 29 recommendations for governments and automakers
are contained in the union's auto policy document,
Navigating the Road Ahead: Rebuilding Canada's powerhouse auto
sector.
Unifor is Canada's largest
union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers in every
major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working
people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in
Canada and abroad, and strives to
create progressive change for a better future.
SOURCE Unifor